Lip-sync research

From our research, Lip-syncing is an extremely difficult task to complete. The artist who is lip- syncing will have to rehearse repeatedly, this is due having to know all the lyrics of the song. Therefore, our music video will look professional and realistic. When lip-syncing we'll have to play the music in the background. Therefore, the band member will be able to mouth each lyric. Lip-syncing is useful and creative as it allows the artist to perform the narrative in the music video without making it look unprofessional.  Since the band member isn't singing they are able to act out different situations for the music video rather than just singing down a microphone.

After analysing Oasis' music video 'Wonderwall' I noticed the Liam Gallagher used lip-syncing throughout the video. I thought that this worked well as the music video used a mixture of performance and narrative shots. Lip-syncing is a possible option when creating our own music video. Since we have chosen a pre-exsisting song it has enabled us to focus more on creating the narrative of the music video. Therefore, we won't be copying the narrative of the music video. If we did copy the narrative of the music video, we could be accused of copyright. From our research our two main leading singers Liam and Noel Gallagher are featuring in many of the narratives of her own music videos which is something we want to recreate in ours. Therefore, this will help our music video look professional and relative to real life situations. Including lip-syncing would mean that the two leading singers will be able to act out in the music video and will be able to perform the narrative.

Parental Advisory Warning

The Parental Advisory label is a warning label first introduced by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1985 and later adopted by the British Phonographic Industry in 2011. It is placed on audio recordings in recognition of excessive profanities or inappropriate references, with the intention of alerting parents of potentially unsuitable material for younger children. 

Recordings with the Parental Advisory label are often released alongside censored versions that reduce or eliminate the questionable material. Several retailers will distribute all varieties of the product, occasionally with an increased price for censored versions, while some sellers offer the amended pressings as their main options and choose not to distribute the explicit counterparts. 

It is important as a group to take the parental advisory label under consideration. But we've realised that after looking at the lyrics of our chosen song (Wonderwall), there isn't any inappropriate phrases or words that could cause offence to people. Therefore, we think that we don't need to consider the label for our music video because we're not going to include any inappropriate scenes. Which means, that it is suitable for all audiences to watch.  

Live Performance Research

Within Britpop music videos live performances are a common feature. This creates the main focus of the video on them as live performers. It helps to keep the focus on the music itself and the musical talents in which the artists have. It is often that in many music videos clips of live performances are inter cut between a narrative within the music video. This is used to break up the music video and introduce a story. For example, Oasis use this convention in the music video of Champagne Supernova.

Live performances are often used in music videos to promote the artist. It shows off how natural and talented the artist is, it highlights a lot of talent and shows off the artist's charisma and confident attitude of performing to the audience. 

Our chosen Britpop band (Oasis) has done many live performances throughout their career. After doing research into our chosen song we realised there was a live performance version of 'Wonderwall'. As a group we want to include a live performance which inter cuts between the narrative within our music video. I decided to analyse the video to see what effect it has on the audience and also to help me to come up with live performance ideas which I would be able to include in our own music video. 

Location Research

Continuing on with my research I decided to look at various music videos from the Britpop genre focusing mainly on location and setting. This is so I would be able to use the information to help deciding a location or setting for our own music video. My research was able to show me that Britpop music videos usually use a variety of locations, many are urban / lower class background places such as Towns, parks. This is used frequently so that the music video can become relatable to the audience as they can resemble it to real life situations.

Music videos are often shown in scenic, natural locations which is used to fit with the songs narrative and meaning. Extreme long shots and establishing shots are frequently used to establish the setting and mood of the music video. Pan shots often used and help show the audience the setting in the background.

For example, in the music video of Live forever. They use a long shot to establish the location of the music video (which is in a park) to the audience.

From my location research, it has made us realise as a group of where to film our music video. For example, it is important to film our music video in an urban/lower class location because successful Britpop bands usually set their music videos in these location. Therefore, this suggests to us that setting the music video in a urban/lower class location, is a key Britpop convention.

Chosen Character Profile

Name: Luke Mckendry
Age: 17
Favourite Genre: Alternative
Hobbies: Watching Manchester United home and away, Playing football.

As a group, we've decided to choose Luke Mckendry to play the role as Liam Gallagher in our music video. We think Luke would play a perfect role because he relates to the fashion of what Liam Gallaghers wears. For example, wearing denim blue jeans and Adidas Gazelle's.

Name: Jack Rundle
Age:17
Favourite Genre: R&B
Hobbies: Watching Manchester City and socialising with friends and family.

As a group, we've decided to choose Jack Rundle to play the role as one of the band members in our music video. We think Jack would play a perfect role because he relates to the fashion of Britpop perfectly well. For example, by wearing parka coats.




Name: Jack Davenport
Age:17
Favourite: R&B
Hobbies: Watching Manchester United home and away, Listening to music and socialising with friends and family.

As a group, we've decided to choose myself to play the role as Noel Gallagher in our music video. We think myself would suit this role because I'm a confident character, therefore I'll be able to relate to Noel's actions in the music video easily. Also I wear the same style of clothes to Noel Gallagher, therefore I'll look like a real Britpop band member.

Name: Adam Royle
Age:18
Favourite Genre: R&B
Hobbies: Watching Manchester City home and away and listening to music.

We've decided to choose Adam Royle as another additional band member. This is because we think that he would play a perfect role, as a result of wearing the same clothes as the Britpop genre and also having high confidence levels. This would influence his role in a perfect way because he'll be able to replicate the key actions in a Britpop music video.

Name: Lucy Carter
Age: 17
Favourite Genre: R&B
Hobbies: Socialising with friends and family.

As a group, we've decided to include Lucy Carter as part of our narrative. This is because, the meaning of the lyrics for 'Wonderwall' is about Noel Gallagher fancying a girl but the she doesn't know about it. Therefore, we're going to film Lucy walking away from the camera holding a bunch of flowers to support the lyrics of the song.

Our Initial Idea

Jack, Luke and myself have discussed our options and plans for our music video. We have had a variety of ideas of what we could use for the music video for our chosen band for the Britpop genre. We are interested into using a narrative in our video joined with a live performance very similar to the music video of 'Wonderwall'. We have decided to do a performance without a crowd. This is because it allows us to use a variety of camera shots and angles. We think that the best narrative based off the song lyrics is to involve a relationship experience from the male's perspective as that's what we have inferred from the lyrics. As a result of the lyrics of the relating to the girl Noel Gallagher fancies, we should include girl character in the narrative, who is holding a bunch of flowers to symbolise romance. By including a female character, we've decided to make the girl walk away from the camera. This is because, Noel Gallagher is unsure if the girl fancies him. Therefore, by the girl walking away from the camera, it will show to the audience that the band member finding love is struggling.

Also from our research, as a group we've identified that in Britpop music videos, the band members mainly wear casual clothes, such as; Parkas coats/ jackets, denim jeans and polo shirts. Therefore, we're going to replicate this convention throughout the music video to show to the audience that we're relating back to the genre. For the location of our music video, we're going set it in two different locations, in the urban areas of Altrincham and in a normal basic empty room. The reason why we've decided to set our location in an urban area is because from our research, we've realised that a common trend is to set the location in a urban location. For example, 'Stand by me' by Oasis is set in a urban location, to help show the narrative story line behind the lyrics. Therefore, w're going to replicate this as this is a common convention in the Britpop genre. Furthermore, the other reason why we've decided to film our music video in an empty room because it relates to the lyrics of 'Wonderwall' because it gives a sense of loneliness towards the main band member 'Noel Gallagher'. Therefore, it is important to replicate this in own music video, as it will make our product look professional.

Focus Group

1. Do you enjoy listening to Britpop music?

2. What do you particularly like about the music?

3. What are your opinions on the song 'Wonderwall'?

4. If you've seen the music video for Wonderwall, what do you like about it?

5. What do you think is key in order to replicate a successful Britpop music video?

6. Do you think there should be a narrative story throughout the music video?

As a group we thought that it would be a good idea to create a focus group because we can ask our target audience what they think of our song choice and what we should include in our music video to make it look as professional as possible. 

From this focus group, we found out that they like the song 'Wonderwall' and the music video. When we asked the 5th question, a couple of people mentioned that it is important to consider the timing of when the music video was set. Therefore, we should focus on the type of costumes, Britpop bands used to wear during the 90's. For example, we should wear polo shirts and denim jeans because this was a common convention in the Britpop genre in the 90's.  Also, it was mentioned that we should include a story linking to the lyrics. As a result of this, as a group we've decided to include a girl in our video holding some flowers. This is because the lyrics for 'Wonderwall' is about Noel Gallagher fancying a girl but the girl doesn't know about it. Therefore, by including this it will help connote a romantic story line behind the lyrics. On the other hand, some people mentioned that its important to include a live performance in our music video. As a result of this, we've decided to included a band member playing the guitar in a couple of clips in the music video.